Help me put together a cinematic music mix for my Colorado mountain roadtrip.

May 21, 2010 9:00 AM

Help me put together a cinematic music mix for my Colorado mountain roadtrip.

The hubby and I are taking a road trip to Colorado from St. Louis. We have plenty of music for the long, flat drive out but will be spending a good deal of time in and around the mountains on the way to a remote cabin. I'd like to assemble an orchestral music mix with a Western feel to play once we hit the foothills. I really want to heighten the "holy crap we're no longer in the midwest - we're in the American frontier on a mountain!" mood as we're driving through the fantastic scenery.

What scores and albums would you suggest I include?

To give you an idea of the kind of stuff I'm leaning towards, here are some soundtracks I've already pulled:

Horse Whisperer Score
Last of the Mohicans Soundtrack
How to Make an American Quilt Soundtrack
"Open Spaces" from There Will Be Blood Soundtrack
"An Ending" from Brian Eno's Apollo album
"Re-Entry" from The Shadow of the Moon

Steel guitars...Lonely strings...Sweeping vistas of songs...poignant & thoughtful patriotic themes... Anything that says, rugged American West to you!

posted by muirne81 to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (9 answers total)

No so sure about cinematic music, but you should definitely include Copland's Hoedown. I can pretty much guarantee that it'll have you thinking about the American frontier (or beef commercials).
posted by Diagonalize at 9:24 AM on May 21, 2010

Well, if you happen to be there when the aspens turn, I don't see how you can avoid Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique.
posted by jamjam at 9:25 AM on May 21, 2010

I'd second Copland - maybe Fanfare for the Common Man too?
posted by sigmagalator at 9:39 AM on May 21, 2010

If you've never driven through the mountains before I would suggest no soundtrack at all. You don't need an artificial soundtrack to be impressed by nature's majesty.
posted by 6550 at 9:43 AM on May 21, 2010

If you're up for some classical, Antonin Dvorak's 9th Symphony (The New World) is the most cinematic piece of music I've ever heard. I can't listen to it without seeing vast Western horizons and hearing steam locomotives.
posted by workerant at 9:50 AM on May 21, 2010

Ry Cooder's soundtrack to Paris, Texas.
posted by judith at 10:56 AM on May 21, 2010

I'd throw on some Neil Young- specifically thinking harvest moon. Don't know why, just seems kind of appropriate. Maybe because it's mellow and that's the general attitude I get out here, especially once you get away from the front range (I live in CO currently).
posted by TheBones at 11:30 AM on May 21, 2010

Well, I drove through Colorado once with the Lord of the Rings soundtrack going, and it was pretty sweet. Especially when the epic moments matched up well with, like, cresting a hill and seeing a huge mountain lake or something.

Mahler, I think, also lends itself well to the Rockies.

If you're driving through the mountains at night, put on a recording of Arvo Part's Fratres (I like the piano/arrangement). Seriously, you will be moved.
posted by Lutoslawski at 12:33 PM on May 21, 2010

John Denver's Greatest Hits. It's always worked for me.
posted by PixieS at 6:13 PM on May 21, 2010